This invention relates in general to valve assemblies, and in particular to valve assemblies useful in sampling liquid chemical streams in conduits during passage of a liquid stream through the conduit without an attendant interruption of the flow of the liquid. The assemblies of the invention are particularly well suited to assist in the sampling of reactive and/or hazardous liquid streams such as flammable liquids including gasolines. The valve assemblies of the invention are also anticipated as being useful in the sampling of gaseous streams in addition to liquid streams.
Since the first manufacture of chemical materials, perhaps by ancient Egyptians of the refining of gold, there has existed a need for a means by which the quality of the finished product to be used may be measured. In modern times, with the advent of the construction of chemical plants suitable to produce a wide range of reaction intermediates and finished products, both organic and inorganic, there has been seen an increased need for quality control measures. Such measures typically involve transporting a sample of a material to a laboratory or other facility for analysis, often on the same premises as the manufacture of chemical products themselves. The laboratory typically performs one or a plurality of chemical and/or physical analyses on the sample of material taken, with results being reported back to the workmen operating the chemical manufacturing process who then use the information gained to optimize or otherwise facilitate the production of materials.
Quite often, it is the case that the materials being sampled are hazardous or otherwise dangerous to personnel or the environment. In such instances extra care must be exercised to make certain that there are no releases of materials to the surroundings and that workmen in the manufacturing area are not exposed to even miniscule amounts of chemical streams involved. For example, as is known in the art, the manufacture of sulfurized olefins used in the transportation industry involves the reaction of molten sulfur under conditions of elevated temperature and pressure with hydrogen sulfide gas and an olefin such as butylene. During such a reaction, it is necessary to monitor the progression of the reaction, since the desirable product may consist in one having either two, three, four or more sulfur atoms per molecule. Since the reaction, if permitted to proceed unabated, would ultimately result in a sulfurized product containing more than the optimum desired amount of sulfur, a means by which the reaction mixture may be sampled without release into the atmosphere and without contacting a workman is necessary.
Another situation in which it is desirable to provide a means for sampling a chemical stream during the flow of a material through a conduit is in the sampling of aviation gasolines, turbine engine fuels, or the like, for contaminants at their point of use. The Federal Aviation Administration in the United States, and other analogous governmental agencies in countries foreign to the US have prescribed maximum levels of impurities permissible in various aviation fuels at their point of use. The determination of whether a particular fuel stream meets the required quality standards is typically carried out by performing an analytical test on the fuel stream near its point of use. During the carrying out of such test, it is necessary for an operator to extract a sample quantity of fuel from a conduit through which the fuel passes, desirably in such fashion that the workman is not exposed to the fuel and that none of the fuel is permitted to escape into the surroundings.
American Standard Test and Measurements (xe2x80x9cASTMxe2x80x9d) method ASTM D 2276, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference, proscribes a standard test method by which particulate contaminants in aviation fuel by line sampling may be determined. The method involves the filtration of a known volume of fuel through a pre-weighed test membrane filter in a field monitor. During the filtration process, the membrane traps a mass of particulant contaminants, and the mass of the contaminants may be determined by a subsequent gravimetric analysis procedure. The official test method utilizes a field monitor to filter a sample of fuel that is taken in the field by the sampling method that is detailed in ASTM test method D5452, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference thereto.
Typically, the filtration step involves the passage of a known volume of fuel through a Millipore(trademark) type filtration membrane, which has a nominal pore size of approximately 0.8 microns. Therefore, it is desirable to have at hand a convenient means for controllably dispensing a specific sample quantity of fuel for filtration according to the standardized test method of determination of particulant contaminants. It is also desirable to have at hand a convenient means for extracting a sample of aviation fuel from a conduit through which it passes during normal use of the conduit, such as for example while it provides a source of fuel for commercial aircraft at busy airline hubs. It is thus seen to be highly desirable to provide for an uninterrupted flow of aviation fuels to their end users while also providing a means for extracting a sample for the above-described filtration test. The present invention provides a device especially well suited for such use.
The prior art provides devices for the sampling of fuel for the filtration test, and provides a means by which a representative sample of fuel may be removed from the conduit. For example, fuel sampling kits are available from Gammon Technical Products, Inc. of 2300 Highway 34, Manasquan, N.J., 08736, including those known as GTP-7; GTP-7T; GTP-3; GTE-5; and GTP-1, to name but a few. These kits are described in Fuel Sampling Equipment Bulletin 3 (12-95), available from Gammon Technical Products, Inc., the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto. The kits typically include a main body portion (which includes a linear, tubular probe portion) that is adapted to be affixed to the external wall of a conduit in such fashion to permit the probe portion to extend to substantially the center of the conduit, so as to provide for the liquid removed to have come from the center of the conduit, thus providing a representative sample. The kits also include a quick-disconnect coupling that is equipped with a poppet valve, in addition to a ball valve. During use in extracting a fuel aliquot, the user connects the field filtration unit, which includes the Millipore(trademark) type filter to the quick disconnect coupling. A ball valve is actuated by turning the handle, thus permitting fuel to flow until the valve is subsequently closed.
Assemblies produced from the aforementioned kits have the disadvantages in that they contain several joints, four (4) to be exact, between the various components of the sampling valves. Each such joint potentially serves as a point for leaks of fuel or otherwise the introduction of impurities into the system. Test procedure ASTM D-2276 specifies that the sampling valve connection xe2x80x9cmust have a minimum of internal recesses which could cause the holdup of contaminantxe2x80x9d. Therefore, if a means for providing the removal of representative sample aliquots of chemical streams, including aviation fuels, while the overall flow of material to its end users could continue unabated and while reducing the number of potential leak points and having a unibody construction to reduce manufacturing costs, such a device would be welcomed by those personnel and companies who regularly engage in the evaluation of fuels, in addition to the environmental authorities interested in maintaining the cleanliness of the surroundings, as well as regulatory agencies such as OSHA and various labor organizations.
The present invention is directed at a valve device for providing representative samples of a fluid material from a conduit through which the fluid material is normally housed or caused to pass which comprises a substantially cylindrical valve body portion having a first end portion and a second end portion. There is a continuous hollow portion or xe2x80x9cmain borexe2x80x9d extending longitudinally through the valve body and parallel to its length dimension. The valve device also includes a valve means disposed between the first end portion and the second end portion effective for selectively separating the main bore into two separate chambers that are not in fluid contact with one another so as to prevent the flow of a fluid material through the main bore. The device further includes a means for causing said valve means to be in either an open or a closed position, which is preferably manually actuated, and a safety valve that is normally biased in a closed position disposed at the first end portion of the valve body. Preferably, the invention includes a tubular probe portion disposed at the second end portion of the valve body, in order to provide a user of the device a measure of control over the location at which the sample of fluid material is admitted for transmission through the valve of the invention to the filtration apparatus or other intended sample receiver.
The valve of the invention preferably includes a quick disconnect coupling pair, which include a male and female member. Preferably, the female member of a quick disconnect coupling is attached to the first end of the sampling device of the invention. There is also a safety valve (preferably a poppet-type valve) that is mechanically biased in a closed position to prevent the flow of fluid from a conduit through the valve in the event that the manually actuated valve is inadvertently caused to be in an open position, and in such regard, the poppet valve acts as a safety device. The safety valve is preferably located between the valve means and the female member of the quick disconnect pair and is preferably in a closed position during times when no filtration device is attached to the valve. This is readily accomplished through use of a biasing spring means which has a first end portion and a second end portion, wherein its first end portion is in mechanical contact with the moveable element of the poppet valve and the second end portion is in mechanical contact with a stationary spring seating means located at a suitable location within the main bore. The spring seating means is the valve packing in a preferred form of the invention.
The valve body means may include a boss portion, wherein the boss portion has a valve control bore through it that is adapted to receive the control shaft means that is used to actuate the valve means wherein the centerline of the valve control bore is substantially perpendicular to the centerline of the main bore. Typically, the means for manually causing the valve means to be in either an open or a closed position includes a control shaft portion having a first end portion and a second end portion wherein the first end portion is in mechanical contact with the valve means and wherein the second end portion includes a handle or other provision which enables the hand(s) of a workman to actuate the valve means from an open to a closed position.
One of the advantageous safety features of the device is its inclusion of a provision which prevents the disconnection of the mating portions of the quick disconnect coupling that has been engaged while the valve means disposed within the main bore is in the open position. Such a provision is capable of preventing inadvertent releases of fluid materials (which may be hazardous or inflammable) by workmen. This feature, coupled with the absence of the pluralities of linkages or couplings found in prior art devices of the type to which the instant invention pertains makes the instant device and the method of its use the premier method of choice for routine fuel quality sampling in the industry. Further, such safety is attainable at a price level which is cost competitive and readily affordable by the industry. Towards this end, advantageous use is made of the slidable outer collar portion coextensively disposed about the female portion of the quick disconnect coupling, and its cooperative connection with a provision on the handle means that prevents movement of said slidable outer collar portion of the safety (poppet) valve when the valve means is in an open position, thereby effectively preventing disconnection of the complementary counterparts of the quick disconnect coupling means at times when the valve means is in an open position.